Project: Industrial Buildings in Hong Kong

 

Revitalize industrial buildings: From industrial to commercial

Reported by Felix Tam

Under the urban renewal plan coordinated by Hong Kong government, the revitalization of industrial buildings is a key component. To meet the current social and economic needs, the government launches a nil waiver fee scheme in 2010 for building owners to apply for the usage change of existing industrial buildings. Meanwhile, the owners have to comply with the Town Planning Ordinance and statutory plans in order to the safety standards in the converted industrial buildings.

Kwun Tong is one of the industrial area in Hong Kong. Nowadays, more and more stores open inside the industrial buildings and boosts the commercial activities in this district. The industrial buildings like Camel Paint Building and Kwun Tong Industrial Center, which are near the shopping center, attract many customers and some shop owners select these places to start their business. Both of them are the longest history industrial buildings in Kwun Tong since 1986 and the factories inside the building start closing after the revitalization plan established.

Link to the photo story

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Inside the Industrial Buildings: A book holds a house of gold

Reported by Happy Lau

In Hong Kong where a place with limited space, an organization called “Read-Cycling” choose to have their “PPO Library” in a factory building. In order to encourage sharing of reading pleasure, “Read-Cycling” Sylvia Lau, who is the founder of “Read-Cycling”, provides a platform and let everyone share their thoughts and understanding of books by organizing book bazaar.

Link to the video

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Book Saver: Promoting is difficult but enjoyable

Reported by Cara Li

Sylvia Lau is the founder of “Read-Cycling”, an organization aims at promoting reading and extending the lifespan of books. “We are doing things different from book crossing. You always need to wait for an opportunity, wait for a book crossing event to look for new books or recycle your books. However, if we can provide you a place to exchange books, you do not have to wait,” said the lady.

Book crossing, a concept which is introduced to Hong Kong a few years ago. Radio Television Hong Kong and Hong Kong Playground Association organized a book crossing event in 2007. The trend of book crossing keeps growing after that.

Book shops and organisations like “Read-Cycling” in industrial buildings sell second-hand books and encourage book exchange activities, which are in line with the aims of book crossing.

Prejudice Book Store in an industrial building Kwai Chung was found last year by L. K. Fan, a book lover. The store is going to move to Kwun Tong because the lease is running out. The new area will be a lot smaller than the flat in Kwai Chung so Mr. Fan cannot store all the books he has now in the new rented flat. He then planned to share his precious collection with “bookworms” like himself.

Readers can buy books from Mr. Fan’s book store at a price decided by themselves. Mr. Fan said he was not sure when the last day of the book store in Kwai Chung would be since hr cannot estimate how many people would come to buy books after the announcement of closing. “The store is supposed to close in late April but it is not confirmed. If people keep coming, the store may continue to run for a few more days,” said Mr. Fan.

Mr. Fan does not organise reading events but his obsession in reading still brings him a lot of like-mind. On the other hand, Ms. Lau’s organisation sometimes hold activities to gather book lovers. “Read-Cycling” opens “PPO Library” in an industrial building in San Po Kong. They organise an event called “Free books to NGOs”. Staff and people from NGOs can go to “PPO Library” to collect books.

Light and labour-intensive industries started emerging in the city in the 1940s since immigrants from the mainland China were willing to work in the industrial field to earn a living. The high demand of jobs contributed to the development of manufacturing industry, according to Hong Kong Memory, an online platform providing information about Hong Kong’s history, culture and heritage.

In the 1990s, relocation of manufacturing industries from Hong Kong to the mainland China as well as the rapid development of commercial industries in Hong Kong, the population working in industrial area started to drop — leaving more and more industrial buildings vacant.

In recent years, flats in industrial buildings are occupied by people working in different fields. For example, artists, cafe owners and book sellers. When some of them want to fulfill their missions and promote the value of culture, they may encounter barriers.

Maintaining a book-sharing environment is not an easy task, according to both Mr. Fan and Ms. Lau’s cases. Mr. Fan is facing problems regarding the lease while Ms. Lau said “PPO Library” is run by volunteers only due to the limited budget.

Problems which tenants of flats in industrial buildings need to tackle include high expenses, becoming an obstacle when they are trying to expand.

However, running a store in an industrial building is still an interesting thing to Ms. Lau. “We sometimes organize an open day so people can come and choose books they like,” she mentioned. “The most unforgettable thing is that, a cafe in the same building with us helped us to promote our activity after they knew we had an open day.”

People working in industrial area may form a community. Most of the readers go to Kwai Chung just to visit Mr. Fan’s book store. Some of them are literary. Mr. Fan enjoys sharing ideas with them.

Link to the original story

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360 Industrial Building Tour: Finding Innovations in Tediousness

Reported by Gigi Kwok

Link to 360 tour

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Project Reporters:

Felix Tam

Happy Lau

Cara Li

Gigi Kwok

 

Revitalize Industrial Buildings: From Industrial to Commercial

Under the urban renewal plan coordinated by Hong Kong government, the revitalization of industrial buildings is a key component. To meet the current social and economic needs, the government launches a nil waiver fee scheme in 2010 for building owners to apply for the usage change of existing industrial buildings. Meanwhile, the owners have to comply with the Town Planning Ordinance and statutory plans in order to the safety standards in the converted industrial buildings.

Kwun Tong is one of the industrial area in Hong Kong. Nowadays, more and more stores open inside the industrial buildings and boosts the commercial activities in this district. The industrial buildings like Camel Paint Building and Kwun Tong Industrial Center, which are near the shopping center, attract many customers and some shop owners select these places to start their business. Both of them are the longest history industrial buildings in Kwun Tong since 1986 and the factories inside the building start closing after the revitalization plan established.

Reported by Felix Tam

1. Under the revitalization project, the building owner is only allowed the minor changes of the existing building frame and the demolition of external structures should not be more than 10% of the total area of the existing building .

2. Apart from factories and manufacturing activities, the industrial buildings nowadays attract the lease of offices, restaurants, stores and mini-storages. However, some of usages are not legally allowed under the Government Leases Ordinance.

3. Ip Siu Yan Judy, 46, a full time office worker working in the industrial building said the overall security in the building was worse than commercial one. It is because there are diverse people rent the units in the industrial building which makes the security guards are difficult to monitor and check.

4. The elevator in the industrial building is different from the usual one in the commercial building and the elevator door has to be opened by manpower instead of automized electric control. Some people said it was common to stuck inside the elevator and the facilities are comparatively old.

5. Chan Kwok Keung, 62, a full time security guard in the industrial building said he was responsible for opening the elevator door as well as monitor the elevator operation. He admits that sometimes he feels tired as he is required to stand whole day in the elevator.

6. The corridor inside the industrial building is wider as it is for sorting and transporting goods. As the layout of the industrial building usually is more complicated, some of the stores place shop sign in the corridor to guide the customers.

7. KOKON 2 is a Japanese restaurant inside the industrial building. The restaurant owners indicate that the decoration outside the restaurant have to be stunning in order to attract customers and they are able to rent a larger units at a reasonable price inside the industrial building.

8. During the weekends and holidays, there are many people visiting the industrial building and long queue of waiting elevator always exists in that time. It is because these buildings usually have more cargo elevators than elevators for passengers.

9. Yeung Pui Ting, 62, a part time leaflet distributor mentioned that the stores inside the industrial building always hired promoters to distribute leaflets in a bid to increase the shop visibility to the pedestrians for stimulating businesses.

10. In addition to restaurant, some reputable brands open outlet in the industrial building for the stock clearances. There usually are 40% to 70% off discounts and it attracts many people to visit and purchase the products.

11. Alka Sama, 26, an Indian sales assistant working in Indian accessories shop said they imported unusual accessories from India. The advantage of working in industrial building is that many logistic companies surrounds the building and it is really convenient for receiving their parcel.

12. According to the security guard, people are not allowed to smoke in the indoor of the building due to the usage change of the buildings.  Some parents who bring their kids said they would like to wait the long queue rather than walking the staircase as they do not want kids to smell second hand smoke.

13. Tang Yu Ling, 38, customers said she would like to eat and shop in the industrial buildings than shopping mall as the price is usually cheaper. Most importantly, she thinks that the shops and restaurant is unique and special comparing with the shopping malls which only have chain stores and restaurants.

14. For the rent of industrial building, according to the letting agency, the units of 250 to 500 feet are usually around HKD $3.3k to $8k which is much cheaper than the commercial building. The industrial buildings near the MTR station usually have higher rent and occupancy rate is high.

15. THE WAVE, the former Cheung Kong Electronic Building, is a new commercial center which was transformed and reconstructed from industrial building.  It incorporates stores and office together and there is 24 hour fitness center in the building.

16. As there are numbers of industrial building in this area, the pedestrian flow is enormous and traffic congestions always exist during the peak hours. The Kwun Tong District Council tries to fight for road expansion in these years, but the construction complication constrains the plan.

17. The reason why Kwun Tong can be both commercial and industrial land use until now as it has sufficient transportation support and there are residential area nearby. The comprehensive land use in Kwun Tong is one of the factors that encourage the revitalization of industrial buildings.

Lion Dance in CNY

The Reformation of Wet Market: New or Old?

Hong Kong’s multitude of wet markets are windows into a vivid world of food shopping which significantly represent local cultures. However, more and more markets in different districts were renewed as a modern and customer-oriented environment by The Link. The company has started the reformation plan since 2016 by renewing 10 markets initially.

Sheung Tak Market and Hau Tak Market have been the original market for residents’ daily consumption since the Tseung Kwan O new town development project started. Recently, Hau Tak Market has been refurbished and renamed as TKO Market while the another one is not under the list of renewal.

1. According to The Link, Hau Tak Market have been renewed with a western design by using brown and wooden elements to present the freshness image of the new market.

2. The store layout has been completely altered after the renewal and all of the vegetable and fruit store are relocated to the nearest point of entrance to increase brightness of the market.

3. Chung Kwok Fan Fanny, 54, a part-time greengrocer said that the working environment was larger compared with former one. Meanwhile, she is also required to know the operation of electric payments which the new market offers to customers.

4. Some shopkeepers in the new market wear standardized uniform and the fruit stores are equipped with refrigerators to store some foreign imported fruits, ranging from Japan to Canada.

5. The owner of this Chinese barbecue takeaway store reveals that the operation company of new market required them to construct glasses between the shop and customers queue due to the hygienic concerns.

6. Compared with the traditional market, the aisle between the stores is generally wider and the floor bricks are anti-slip.

7. All of the fish shop use the equivalent water tank and sink to distill the wasted water. The shop owner said the market would send officer to monitor the stores regularly.

8. Interestingly, a jewelry shop can be found in a new market and it is unusual from the traditional one which only sell food and ingredients. Wu Po Shan, 55, the shop owner also feel surprise when the market accept her easing enquiry.

9. The butchers in new market prepare the meat and place them into the refrigerators by categories to let customers select which is different from the meat store in usual market.

10. Although TKO market is newly opened within a month, Sheung Tak Market is still embraced by the residents nearby as it is the nearest market in the residential area of Tseung Kwan O.

11. To Ching, 56, a full-time greengrocer is selling fruits and vegetables in an area which is surrounded by the goods and costumers in Sheung Tak Market.  She is used to putting the goods on the aisle to maximize the rooms for selling.

12. The Sheung Tak Market is usually crowded with people during peak hour around 3 to 6 p.m. every day. To increase the brightness, shops usually use the “red-bowl” lamp for illumination.

13. Chan Wai Tak, 55, a butcher is butchering meat for customers and he is used to dropping down the value of each payment in his notebook to document transaction processing.

14. Some shops in Sheung Tak Market do not have sufficient space for retail. They gather to rent a stall in the market and reform it as a common storage room.

15. The floor near fish shop is wet and slippery. Sometimes, the fish even jump out of the water and drop on the ground and people always walk carefully in this aisle.

16. This is the major aisle in Sheung Tak Market as almost all types of shops are distributed in this area. A shop owner mentions that some customers would have verbal conflict with others as the space is too narrow for walking.